Shy Child
The Humanity EP (Grenadine/FAB)
The punk explosion of '76 was as much a reaction against the excesses of prog rock as anything. A quarter-century later, Brooklyn duo Shy Child has made peace between the two camps. Armed with only drums and a synthitar (sorry, a "guiboard"), the pair present the grandiose melodic motifs and tricky rhythms of ELP and their ilk in a cheap, raw, muscular manner. The last of this second Shy Child EP's four tunes, "Stingray Wings," is particularly prone to Rush comparisons. Way I see it, you get punk's force and fury without the amateurism and stunted imagination, and you get prog's wisdom but not its wank. 8.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) With A Vertical Mosaic and the World Provider at le Swimming, Sat., Dec. 6, 9pm, $7
ELE_K*
self-titled (Sinistresound)
Local lass ELE_K* falls under the urbane folk-rock heading, singer-songwriter subdivision, and as such does stumble here and there in the expected manner. "Young & Beautiful" is a little too Lilith Fair, and the Björk mimicry on the closer "Ballade" is awkward. Those bum notes, however, only accent the exceptional quality of the rest of her debut disc. True, she's got some damn fine hired guns filling out the sound of her songs, cats from the Dr. Noh/Stars/Jazz Pharmacy continuum. But the bottom line is a diverse spread of solid songs and an engaging voice, without which no amount of bells and whistles could save the day. 7.5/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) With the Forms at le Swimming, Fri., Dec. 5, 10pm, $7
Young and Sexy
Life Through One Speaker (Mint/Outside)
Beautiful voices, literate and heartfelt lyrics and deftly crafted, dreamy pop ballads make a winner of this sophomore LP, courtesy of five kids from Vancouver. Young and Sexy songwriter Paul Hixon Pittman, who swaps lead vocals and shares harmonies with Lucy Brain, paints lovely pictures streaked with melancholy and dotted by quaint character studies. All this alluring verse is backed by soft concoctions of acoustic guitars and piano, or harder electric offerings and organ trills that deliver a friendly velvet punch. 8.5/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With Gentleman Reg and Marlowe at the Jupiter Room, Sun., Dec. 7, 9pm, $7
Rage Against the Machine
Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium (Sony)
I listened to this with my eyes closed and put my mind to work, brought up the consistency of what sat under feet, the crush of rocking bodies, and the band, just beyond the mosh pit. It's the closet I've gotten. Taken from their last two nights together as the poli-tricks-destroying juggernaut, RATM play some of their hardest hitters including "Bulls on Parade," "Sleep Now in the Fire," "Killing in the Name," "Testify" and more, sounding crisp and ripping up the stage. Yeah, I'm close enough to the stage to see them now. 8.5/10 (Lateef Martin)
Richochets
The Ghosts of Our Love (White Jazz/Fusion III)
White Jazz is largely known for punk rock 'n' roll, so Richochets' psychedelic sound pleasantly surprises. On the title track these Swedes lay down a slow blues groove that reeks of vintage Zombies (no complaints here) before slamming into the great Nuggets-worthy "Nobody Around." Richochets may be knee-deep in paisley but always keep the songs on a leash and never rely too much on nostalgic trappings. If you're digging Shadows of Knight, Fuzztones and Blue Magoos but don't want the cartoonish qualities, then this is for you. 8/10 (Johnson Cummins)
Pink Grease
All Over You (Horseglue/Fusion III)
The new wave revival is officially over. These New York trust fund brats in skinny ties are steeped in Suicide, Pere Ubu and X-Ray Spex records and want to make the scene. The skronking sax is relentless and pointless and although the electronic bleeps are a welcome change, it's not enough to make these mundane tunes memorable. These coattail-riders are taking the style-over-substance train all the way to the discount bin. The recording is even an attempt at being period specific, with everything swamped in reverb and delay. The girl group sound of "Susie" and the Wire-esque "Shake" are as boring as watching golf. Ah, what the hell am I talking about - this will probably be huge. 4/10 (Johnson Cummins)
The Forms
Icarus (Three Spheres)
In only 18 minutes, this NYC quartet spreads seven songs over 10 tracks, carefully modelling their tight indie rock sound into structures that owe more to post-rock than pop. Their slickly executed starts, stops and jolts are coloured with enticing hooks and riffs, melodic constructs and one of indie rock's more capable singers, Alex Tween (aka, for some reason, Ecco Teres), giving pop-oriented listeners a reason to prick up their ears as well. Recorded by Steve Albini, this ambitious debut sounds like a band on the brink of bigosity. 8/10 (Lorraine Carpenter) With ELE_K* at le Swimming, Fri., Dec. 5, 10pm, $7
Sleazy Listeners
The Romance Is Over (Squirrelgirl)
Montreal multimedia artist Zev Asher (aka Roughage) pits his sound-deconstruction skills and haunting, Leonard-Cohen-on-mesc vocal stylings with Norwegian noise musician Lasse Marhaug's garbled DSP logic for a tribute to cheesy lounge pop. The result is full-on Merzbow-meets-Manilow. As lush, pastoral orchestral arrangements are distorted and bit-crushed into the stratosphere, Asher's low-end vocals rumble about love, heartbreak and "the sticky juice that'll make it slide." While digital piss-takers like the U.K.'s V/Vm have made attempts at this sort of tongue-in-cheek glitch-schmaltz, the Sleazy Listeners don't sound gimmicky and do a great job pulling out the haunting and disturbing quality of this cringe-worthy music. 8.5/10 (Raf Katigbak)
David Michael
Cross Cold War (White Leather/Koch)
Fans of electronic pop will really dig the first full-length album released on local electro-prince Tiga's White Leather label. Cold War is 10 tracks of pure '80s synth-pop covering a range of appropriate topics like nuclear war, clones, the future and space. While the rather dubious history of David Michael Cross is shrouded in mystery (supposedly recorded in 1982, he sounds an awful lot like White Leather artist and '80s aficionado DMX Krew), the tracks are solid and will please fans of Depeche Mode, Gary Numan and Kraftwerk. 7.5/10 (Raf Katigbak)
24K
Quotable (Madd)
It's nice to see Montrealer 24K getting love down in NYC, where she's got the support of people like Tony Touch, Just Blaze and Swizz Beats. Unfortunately she goes so overboard with New York thug bravado that there really isn't much that is quotable on her debut LP. Don't get me wrong, this record has enough hot beats and club appeal to get by, but the lyrics are just super derivative and one-dimensional. Trouble is when your guests outshine you, too. The best part of this record is all the Montreal references (lots!) and the Lil' Kim disses (lots!). I was impressed with the production on tracks like "Skully," but many beats are wasted with forgettable lyrics like "Chickens Move Out," or completely stolen like the beat on "2-4 Worldwide." J Dilla will be calling you soon. 7/10 (Scott C)
The Procussions
As Iron Sharpens Iron (Traffic/Fusion III)
The three-man team from Colorado come correct on this small taste of the many good things yet to come. Stro the 89th Key seems to be a producer rooted in the all-important expressive backdrop which he laces repeatedly for MCs Resonant and Mr. J Medeiros. Their home state Colorado is represented on some great tracks like "Just Over Broke," "Celebration" and "Water's Edge." Stro's musicality does a lot to bring their sound together, but it's the combination of the three that completes this equation. Fresh beats and songs that reflect observant, perceptive artists make this a strong release. 8.5/10 (Scott C)
Montell Jordan
Life After Def (Koch)
R&B big man Jordan has been running after his '95 jam "This Is How We Do It" for years, scoring with lesser hits like "Let's Ride" but never achieving the same heights. His first set since his departure from Def Soul records (hence the tongue-in-cheek title) still finds him chasing his tail. It's not a bad album, but relying on overused samples like the Juicy Fruit bite on lead single "Supa Star" won't do the trick. Asking why rappers need to be part of every R&B song on "Daniel" shows spunk, which Jordan needs more of, if he wants to do it again. 6.5/10 (Gerard Dee)
Lennie Tristano
Intuition (Proper Box/SRI)
Another valuable four-CD set from this company based in England. Tristano was a marvellous pianist and teacher and this 76-track set contains many extremely rare items of his. That includes a 1945 session with Shorty Rogers and Emmett Carls, some 1946 solo work done in Chicago, more solo items from 1947 and a session with John LaPorta that was on the Disc label, a 1951 trio with Peter Ind and Roy Haynes as well as the more familiar work from the Keynote and Capitol labels and a live Toronto set from 1952. That plus great solo work from saxophonists Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh make this one of the most exciting reissues of the year. 10/10 (Len Dobbin)
Slim Sandy
Boogie Woogie Country Girl (independent)
After two decades with the likes of Ray Condo and the Crazy Rhythm Daddies, Peter Sandmark's made his mark on the roots music scene, here and across the country. Now he's struck out on his own, adopting the Slim Sandy tag and tackling drums, harmonica, vocals and the twang of his vintage guitar all at once. Over five covers and his own "Roadster Rumble," Sandy showcases his love for easygoing rockabilly and hillbilly blues. He may be a stickler for accuracy and authenticity, but not to the extent that his efforts become dry, academic exercises - unless they're now giving out degrees in toe-tappin' good times. 8/10 (Rupert Bottenberg) CD launch at Studio Metronome (4232 St-Laurent), Fri., Dec. 5, 9:30pm, $5
Mini CD Reviews
David Linx/Diederik Wissels This Time (Le Chant du Monde/Fusion III) Looking for a major new singing talent? Linx is your man! 9 (LD)
Lone Black Sense self-titled (Lone Black Sense/Local) These guys lay down the thinking man's metal. 7 (JC)
The Jessica Fletchers What Happened to the? (Rainbow Quartz/Fusion III) Party-hearty Swedes tackle '60s Britpop with sometimes groovy results. 7.5 (LC)
Sven Väth The Sound of the Fourth Season (Cocoon) One of techno's true characters, Väth hits us with a double CD of blissed-out and deep techno. Sometimes minimal, sometimes hard, always melodic. 7 (RK)
Stephin Merritt Pieces of April soundtrack (Nonesuch) Magnetic Fields, the 6ths and Merritt solo tunes strangely and sappily score this indie family flick. 6.5 (LC)
Various Boozoo Bajou Remixes (Stereo Deluxe/Fusion III) From Thievery Corporation's "Under My Sensi" remix to Boozoo's remix of Common's "Come Close," this CD is kinda stinky. 6 (SC)
The Flaming Lips Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell EP (Warner) I love these guys, but love won't cover four dull apocryphal tracks and three shitty remixes. 6 (RB)
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